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Prometheus Books
Cannibalism: From Sacrifice to Survival
Cannibalism: From Sacrifice to Survival
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ychologist Hans Askenasy has put together the first comprehensive history of a subject combining violence, horror, and exotic customs. In Part One of his study, Dr. Askenasy gives a historical and geographic overview of humankind's practice of and attitudes toward cannibalism.
Part Two discusses motivational factors for cannibalism, including famines (natural and man-made), survival in extreme situations, magic, ritual, and madness. Among the people and events covered are the siege of Leningrad by the Nazis; the wreckage of the frigate Medusa; the Donner Party; the notorious nineteenth-century "Colorado Man-Eater," Alferd Packer; the Andes plane crash of 1972; Elizabeth Bathory (b. 1560), the "Vampire Lady of the Carpathians"; and Georg Haarmann, who ground up his victims and sold them as potted meat.
In Part Three, "Cannibalism in Culture and Society," Askenasy addresses our continuing fascination with cannibals, man-eating witches, werewolves, and vampires in literature, myth, and the media, ranging from Francis Ford Coppola's film version of Bram Stoker's Dracula and Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles to the blood curdling events surrounding the cases of Issei Sagawa, Jeffrey Dahmer, and the Russian schoolteacher-turned torturer, Andrei Romanovitsch Chikatilo.
"Askenasy's chronicle examines virtually all conceivable facets of its subject with an air of avid interest if not repressed glee." -Booklist
"If you always wanted to know about cannibalism but didn't know how to get started, Askenasy is your guide." -The Maui News
"Mild enough for those unable to stomach excessive gore and yet sufficiently descriptive to satisfy readers with an appetite for what the author terms 'weird and bloody things,' this intriguing volume may be the only comprehensive guide to cannibalism, in all its myriad forms, ever written. Askenasy has compiled a seeemingly definitive reference for student, scholar, or lay person, cataloging this behavior in reality, myth, and hypothesis." -The Antioch Review
Part Two discusses motivational factors for cannibalism, including famines (natural and man-made), survival in extreme situations, magic, ritual, and madness. Among the people and events covered are the siege of Leningrad by the Nazis; the wreckage of the frigate Medusa; the Donner Party; the notorious nineteenth-century "Colorado Man-Eater," Alferd Packer; the Andes plane crash of 1972; Elizabeth Bathory (b. 1560), the "Vampire Lady of the Carpathians"; and Georg Haarmann, who ground up his victims and sold them as potted meat.
In Part Three, "Cannibalism in Culture and Society," Askenasy addresses our continuing fascination with cannibals, man-eating witches, werewolves, and vampires in literature, myth, and the media, ranging from Francis Ford Coppola's film version of Bram Stoker's Dracula and Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles to the blood curdling events surrounding the cases of Issei Sagawa, Jeffrey Dahmer, and the Russian schoolteacher-turned torturer, Andrei Romanovitsch Chikatilo.
"Askenasy's chronicle examines virtually all conceivable facets of its subject with an air of avid interest if not repressed glee." -Booklist
"If you always wanted to know about cannibalism but didn't know how to get started, Askenasy is your guide." -The Maui News
"Mild enough for those unable to stomach excessive gore and yet sufficiently descriptive to satisfy readers with an appetite for what the author terms 'weird and bloody things,' this intriguing volume may be the only comprehensive guide to cannibalism, in all its myriad forms, ever written. Askenasy has compiled a seeemingly definitive reference for student, scholar, or lay person, cataloging this behavior in reality, myth, and hypothesis." -The Antioch Review
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